Recruitment of the Rangers
by Noble17
Summary: Ash has joined the ranks of the Pokémon Rangers. Now twenty years old, he is going to attend a crucial mission with some of his old and new friends. This mission is still unknown to many but the Pokemon world is being endangered. Team Rocket and Team Galactic have joined troops and must be stopped. At all costs...
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

_**Hi there, this is the first chapter in my first Pokémon FanFiction story. First of all I would like to tell you guys that English is NOT my first language. So the piece might contain some errors and sadly my vocabulary is still limited.**_

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"Ash, wake up sweetheart!" Delia yelled in the direction of the stairs, hoping the sound would travel all the way up to her now grown up son. She was so proud of him and the way he was becoming a man, but sadly he was still a sleepyhead.

Normally it would take her 3 shoutouts, but this morning Ash Ketchum was rather quick. She could hear the footsteps reaching the stairs and they paused for a second.

"Do I smell waffles?!" He didn't wait for an answer and was already making his way down in an hurry. A smirk found Delia's face. The whole situation was, even after all those years, so recognaizable.

"Morning Mom." He sat down at the table, and literally attacked the food that was on it. He still hadn't changed much in all those years. Although his body shaped into the figure of a real man, his face looked almost exactely the same. To Ash's ... there was hardly any facial hair to be seen.

"Happy birthday, son." She came over to him and kissed him on the cheek. While he was busy puttig an entire waffle in his mouth, she placed a small box infront of him. It took just a second for him to notice and went quiet. "Come on, open it up". Continued his mother, eager to find out what he thought about it.

He laid his cutlery down on his plate and picked up the little package. Within a few seconds the wrapping was off of it and he got full access to it. What he found inside was a beautful looking watch.

"Wow, mom. Thanks."

"You like it, I liked this one the most because of the yellow accents." off course that was reffering to his best budy and first pokemon Pikachu. She looked at him, thinking of how fast time has passed. He is twenty years old now, altough still young by heart, he has grown up now.

"So you have any plans for today?" Delia asked as she sat down at the table and laid a waffle on her plate before Ash had gotten the chance to eat them all.

"Nothing much, I'll visit Pr. Oak's ranch and see how my pokemon are doing." He just got home from another journey to Mt. Silver and hadn't had the chance yet to see all his Pokemon friends. "You invited some familymembers for tonight, right?"

"Yes, we're going to have that party tonight."

"Great, I'm looking forward to it." Ash wasn't that enthousiastic for the party. While at Mt Silver, training for his new job as a ranger, he had forgotten to invite his friends over. All the people that he had travelled with and befriended on his journeys; Misty, Brock, May, Max and that list contained many more. He had forgotten them and hadn't seen most of them for a while. "Do I have to help you prep?" he asked as he finished his breakfast by drinking his orange juice.

"No no no, I have everything under control here, together with Mr. Myne. You go and have some fun with your pokemon." She finished her only waffle and stood up. "Now, I'm going to do the dishes and I'll head ove rto town to do some grocheries."

Ash collected the plates and laid them in the sink. He walked upstairs and quickly jumped in the shower and prepared himself to visit Pr. Oak. It took him 15 minutes to dress himself. Not wearing his ranger outfit but just a simple combination of jeans, shirt and jacket. Now his look hds not really changed, but his body did change over the years. He was taller but also much more muscular.

It was offcourse a requirement to be in good physical shape. But some of his colleagues took that part of the job a bit too serious. Some of them were looking like a bodybuilder, but the aspect of building up strength was not important to Ash, caring for pokemon much more so.

"C'mon Pikachu, were leaving."

Ash said with a raised voice as he walked down the stairs in a hurried pace. He heard a response from his best friend coming from his room. He didn't have to wait at the front door becaude his yellow mouse pokemon was already running towards him. Ash reached for him as a respone, Pikachu ran up his arm and come to a halt when he reached Ash's shoulder.

"Alright buddy, let's go." And so they did. There was a bike standing outside the house and he unlocked it. He cycled up the hill, towards the ranch and lab of Pr. Oak.

It wasn't far and he reached it in a couple of minutes. He parked the bicycle and instead of knocking on the front door, he went straight to the back and walked inside the lab.

"Pr. Oak, are you here?" It took a couple of seconds untill he received a reply.

"Ash, is that you?" the voice came from upstairs and the sound of footsteps was soon followed after. Ash directed his gaze towards the stairs after he had realized who it was.

"Tracy, long times no see!"

"Ash, all grown up. It is great to see you." it has in fact been a while since the last time the two had seen each other. Memories of the orange islands were already racing through Ash's mind. "What are you doing here?"

"I came over here to visit my Pokemon and off course say 'hi' to Pr. Oak. What about you?"

"I am studying some of your pokemon. Sceptile, in particular."

"How is he?"

"Why don't we go see him and you can see for yourself? Pr. Oak is also out there somewhere."

"Great let's go." they walked over to the fence of the enormous ranch. Tracy opened the gate and let both of them in. Ash looked out on the vast green landscape. Grass as far as the eye could see with the sun still standing low on the horizon. The tree line was a few hundred meters away and the two boys did have the biggest chance of finding Sceptile over there and that's why they automatically made their way over to the trees.

"Oh I forgot it's your birthday today. That's why your home! Congratulations."

"Thanks, Tracy. It feels good to have left my teen years behind." He smiled at the remark he just made. He had not really thought about it but he did in fact enter a new stage in his life. Was he happy with that? Time probably would tell him. "Are you coming to the party, tonight?"

"I might show my face, but I have to leave early in the morning. So it might be a short visit."

"It would be nice if you could come."

They continued walking in silence. There could have been said many things, especially given the time they haven't seen each other. But, the two have never been really close friends. The relationship they shared was shallow and neither one of them really cared about it. After all they never see each other anymore.

They reached the trees in a matter of minutes. The sun was now shining through the leaves which covered the blue sky. Ash has spent enough time here to know where to find his friend. They together have had numerous training sessions here, in the time that Ash was staying here in Pallet town to think about his option of joining the Pokemon Rangers.

There was this enormous tree in the middle of the forest. It was huge compared to the ones surrounding it. Ash wasn't able to spot Sceptile right away so he decided to call out to him.

"Sceptile! Buddy, are you here?"

High sleeping in the tree was the pokemon in question sitting there, able to hear his master calling him. A rush of joy shot through his body after hearing Ash's voice and he stood up, standing tall on one of the highest branches. He made his way down by jumping on the large branches situated below him.

Ash was now standing directly next to the tree. He looked up and saw the reptilian pokemon coming down, maneuvering quickly and showing of his overall speed. He made a final jump as soon as it was safe for him to do so, more than twenty meters from the ground.

"Hi Sceptile, how have you been?" Ash asked the pokemon who was still in mid-air. He received an overjoyed "Scep, sceptile!" and he was tackled by the grass pokemon.

"I have missed you too." Pikachu greeted Sceptile as well, while Ash wanted to head back to already.

"C'mon guys, now let's meet the others." Usually the group of Ash's pokemon could be found together. But Sceptile liked the silence, and to be on his own. And that's the main reason why Ash wanted to find meet him first, so that he would have his entire group all together.

The group made their way back and in the distance Ash was able to spot Pr. Oak walking on the damp grass. He set of running closing the distance as quickly as he could. His body needing all the oxygen it could find to let Ash sprint towards the older professor.

"Ash, what a pleasure to meet you here. And Pikachu you look stronger the last time we met."

"Hi, professor! How are you?"

Tracey, who was still walking in the same tempo as before didn't hurry over like Ash. He kept walking together with Sceptile by his side. Leaving Ash alone, letting him talk to his uncle.

"I'm doing fine as ever, thank you. I was taking care of Gary's Scizor who has been in a nasty fight. How about you, how is life as a pokemon Ranger?"

"Personally, I'm doing fine. I'm starting with a new assignment in a couple of days. I was just wondering how my pokemon were doing, since I was home."

"Your pokemon are doing excellent, strong as ever off course. What kind of assignment?"

That's when Ash started to explain the new chapter in his ranger career. Pr. Oak was very intrigued and has respected rangers for as long as they exist. It was like Ash was retelling his exact briefing he got a week ago, not skipping on any detail. After a while the barn came back into view and Pr. Oak offered to get some drinks from the refrigerator. While Ash could gather his Pokémon.

Ash cupped his hands around his mouth to amplify his voice and yelled "Guys, I'm home." The boost it gives is not long-lasting as the vibrations scatter almost instantly in the free air, but some of his Pokémon most surely have heard the shout out. The leader of the Tauros herd was already running In Ash's direction. Closely followed by Bayleef and Quilava. His flying pokemon: Swellow, Noctowl and Staraptor could be seen in the distance flying over to him.

Everyone was rather quick of getting there. Sadly though Snorlax was nowhere to be seen, it was most likely sleeping against a tree somewhere. Ash took the time to greet all his friendly Pokémon and felt great doing so. It has been a while since he has seen most of them and to be reunited once again filled him with joy. After drinking the soda Pr. Oak had promised him, he went with all his Pokémon to the lake allocated at the ranch.

He stayed there, playing with the group, until after dusk. Because of the fun they had, he almost forgot he had to attend his own party. He looked at his new watch and to his shock he saw that it was almost eight o' clock.

He quickly said goodbye and told them he would be back first thing in morning. He had a fast pace, walking back to his bike. He unlocked the chain lock and with his feet on the paddles he raced home. Now the ride back was downhill and it didn't take him long to get home. He had forgotten his key and so he was forced to knock on the front door.

Noise could be heard inside and he guessed that the party had already started without him. But, it was his own fault, so he didn't really care. After knocking again the door opened. He was greeted by Gary who felt himself at home and didn't mind to open the door.

"Ashy-boy, we thought you wouldn't show up anymore!" He said with a raised voice so that the other guests would be able to hear that Ash had arrived. The door was now opened wide and Ash was able to see many of his former traveling partners. "Happy Birthday!"

_**Alright, that's it for this chapter. This chapter might not have been very interesting, but all stories must have a beginning. If you have read through it in its entirety, please leave a review. It is always nice to receive some feedback and criticism might just improve the story. **_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

**Alright guys, thanks for reading the first chapter. Here's the second one still slow, but it introduces a new character and the first Pokémon battle is a fact.**

"Happy birthday!" where the two words shouted at him. Ash didn't feel like partying, not even his own birthday. He would gladly have stayed with his Pokémon en spent the entire night with them. Ash was not really the social young lad. Usually he forgot dates he had set to spent some time with a friend, hell he had a hard time making one at all.

But at the end of the evening he would probably look back at it very satisfied. He would better make the best of it and have a nice time with his friends, now they were here. Talk to them, laugh with them and maybe, just maybe, he would be able to persuade someone to battle him.

The Pokémon battle is not something that most Rangers find that interesting, but Ash interest in the art of battling always remained in his heart. He also likes it because he is good at it, not extra ordinary, but there are some great trainers who have been beaten by him. But the most important thing to him is the bond share between Pokémon and trainer during these matches.

Ash walked through his house en greeted the guests politely. Most of them had brought some gifts for him and most of them had really put some effort in it. All his old travel-partners where here but also, his relatives and even some gym leaders who have helped Ash significantly on his journey. Many friends from his past he sincerely hoped that his enemies from the past; Jessie, James and Meouwth wouldn't disturb his party.

He has been welcoming his guests for over an hour now. Luckily for him though, the end was near. It was quiet a large turnout, for someone who hardly managed any of his contacts. He walked over to his next guest, they have been one of Ash's dearest friends, Dawn and Brock. Ash and Brock have been on someone journeys that they basically became brothers. Dawn on the other hand has not known him that long, yet she was special to him.

The way they interacted was so different compared to for example, Misty. Misty was the sister he never had, bickering constantly and nagging. He still had not unraveled his feelings for Dawn completely.

"Ash, congratulation!" Dawn said, happily clearly excited of seeing Ash again. She handed him her present to him and kissed him three times on the cheek. "This is for you."

The present Dawn handed to him was a small box, much like the box where his new watch had been in. He unwrapped the ribbon and opened it slowly. What Ash didn't know was that Dawn was extremely nervous as she was watching him open her present. She herself was a brisk person, but she was now close to going completely nuts. She didn't know if Ash would even like it, not even after thinking of something the last couple of weeks.

Dawn studied his facial features closely as he opened it up. She spotted the first signs of a smile in the corner of his mouth and a weight fell off her shoulders.

"It is absolutely beautiful, Dawn!"

Now it was her turn to crack a smile at the goofy young man and let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. He closed the distance between them and hugged her to thank her.

What Dawn had given Ash was a woven bracelet made of paracord. The length of the cord was just over 12 feet and it could help him in a survival situation. The closure was steel in the shape of a pokéball, just to give a touch of Pokémon in there. He got the bracelet out of the box and immediately put it around his right wrist, while his watch was resting on his left one.

Brock who was standing next to Dawn was next in line. As Ash might have guessed, Brock's gift was related to his obsession. He got him a calendar with some nice looking girls on it. One prettier than the other, but all of them dressed scantily.

"Jez, thanks Brocko."

"You're welcome Ash. Now you can properly decorate your place with these gorgeous women." As he was saying his thoughts went to those women, and he stood there daydreaming with his saliva dripping from his mouth.

That was about it. He had greeted all his guests and his obligations where no more. He only had to entertain his guests tonight. His mother and Mr. Mine would take care of the rest, such as snacks, drinks and the music. Although Ash might want to inspect the playlist once or twice. Luckily, the playlist contained some mixed genres and nothing embarrassing that his mother would like to hear. He cranked up the volume and he walked over to the table with the drinks. He got himself a bottle of beer and his action of opening it was interrupted by a voice coming from behind him.

"So now that I have some strong Pokémon in my team, we could have ourselves a real fight." Came the voice of Max Maple. Ash turned around smiling warmly at the younger boy. He reminded him of himself when he was his age, resolute and driven. Since the two know each other, Max was always trying his hardest to become like Ash.

"Max, now that you have a set of strong Pokémon, do you really think you can beat me? I have trained just as hard as you have."

"No one has trained as hard as I have." He replied sternly. Max's sister May, was already heading over toward them. Probably to check in on his brother, but also to talk to Ash. She positioned herself behind her now slightly smaller brother and laid her hands on his shoulders.

"Max, challenging Ash already are we? You cannot even beat your own sister." Max's head went red from either pure anger or shame. He clearly did not like the fact that he could not beat his sister in a battle, even though she was a coordinator instead of battler.

Ash laughed once again, because of the response made by the teen. As in the good old days, the siblings started bickering immediately. Ash made him those promises numerous times and he would like to honor them. It was funny instead of him convincing someone to battle, it was the other way around, who would have thought that.

"Okay Max, I accept your challenge."

Max stopped in an instant. And spared his sister for the time being. "Really, right now?" He immediately got excited and his thoughts were already forming a battle plan. Not that this was the first time he made a mental plan to take out Ash's Pokémon.

"Sure, let's head outside and ask Brock if he is willing to be the ref." Max ran off in a glance. He came close to leaving a trail of smoke as he ran outside. Ash stood on his toes to get a better view of the crowd, looking for the ex- pewter city gym leader. He spotted him standing in the back of the room flirting with a young girl. When looking at the girl, a niece of Ash's, it was clearly seen that she wasn't impressed what so ever. Sadly, Brock was known for the fact that after all these years he still hadn't found a girl that suited him, even after flirting with almost every woman who crossed paths with him. If it wasn't for his Pokémon, he would have received many rejections.

Ash slowly pushed through the crowd of guests standing between him and Brock. "Brock, I'm going to battle Max. Would you be so kind to let my niece be and be our referee?"

"Sure, Ash." Replied Brock shortly. He left the young lady's side and followed Ash outside. Ash looked back at his niece who thanked him silently. Ash shook his head en wondered if Brock would ever be able to find love.

Max was keen on starting the battle and was holding his first pokéball in his hand.

"How many Pokémon would you like to use, Max?" Asked Ash politely not knowing how many Pokémon Max actually had, or strong ones for that matter. He took his place across of Max on the imaginary battlefield. Max classified two of his Pokémon as strong but he wanted to make sure that if he would be defeated it would not be humiliating. So he decided that he would be using just one Pokémon.

"Let's do a one on one battle."

Now Brock took his moment and made an announcement, perhaps for some interested bystanders. "Alright, this is friendly battle between Ash Ketchum and Max Maple. Every trainer may only use one Pokémon. Begin!"

Max has been waiting for this moment for quite a while now, finally he was facing his role-model, Ash. "Okay, let's go Mightyena!" He threw his pokéball towards the field and Max's strongest Pokémon materialized before his pokéball made its way back to his hand "Don't hold back, Ash."

The confidence was clearly seen in the eyes of Max, but would it but overconfident? He didn't only challenge Ash for a battle, but he now indirectly asked him to use his most powerful Pokémon

"If that is what you wish. Show him what power is, Charizard." After years of training in the Charicific valley he sure is his most powerful Pokémon. Pikachu was his oldest and perhaps his most loyal partner, but when brute force was needed the choice was an easy one to make. He did not want to disappoint Max, by using one of his weaker ones. Now that there were two Pokémon roaring loudly many people had moved their focus to the upcoming battle

"Mightyena, use 'Dark Pulse'!" the bite Pokémon shot a ball filled with dark energy towards his opponent, but Charizard dodged it by quickly flying up.

"Charizard, use flamethrower." Ash ordered his Pokémon and he obeyed him without second doubting. This in contrast too many years ago, where Charizard did what he felt what would be best. Sometimes even refusing to battle when the opposition was in his eyes to weak. But now after years of training and earning the respect of his dragon Pokémon they formed a formidable team.

"Mightyena, dodge by using quick attack!" He dodged the attack by using his strong hind. First shooting forwards and then up with all the power left in that same movement. Now with high speed he flew towards the flying Pokémon.

"Braise for impact, Charizard. Now catch him!"

Max was surprised by the fact that Ash didn't let his Pokémon even try to dodge the attack. And Mightyena did hit the Charizard hard in his stomach. But when its momentum stopped the claws of Charizard gripped Mightyena and he adjusted his course by flying straight upwards, knowing what Ash had in mind.

Ash waited until Charizard had reached a certain height before issuing his next command. "Seismic Toss!" Charizard flew down in an almost vertical angle gaining speed, to maximize impact.

"Mightyena, try to get out of his grip by using 'Bite'!" He shouted towards his Pokémon, distant in the sky. The canine Pokémon opened its beak and set his fangs in Charizard's shoulder. The dragon roared loudly and tensed his muscle to reduce the impact of Mightyena's direct attack.

It wasn't the effect Max had hoped for, now he could only watch as Charizard threw his Pokémon to the ground just high enough above the ground, so that the fire Pokémon would be able to pull up just in time.

Dust flew up from the ground and Charizard landed in front of Ash. The job was almost done, both Ash and Charizard knew that. They have used that move in many of their battles and the opponent was either knocked out or close to it.

Both Max and Ash were pleasantly surprised as they saw Mightyena using all its energy left inside its body to stand back up. The Pokémon felt dizzy and wasn't in any state to perform an attack. So Ash took this opportunity to end this duel.

"I'm sorry Max. Charizard, use flamethrower to end this." A blaze of fire came from the fire breathing Pokémon's core and sent it towards Mightyena. It was to be expected that it was in no shape to dodge the incoming attack and could only watch as the flames were closing in fast.

After the fire disappeared it left Mightyena, knocked out, on the ground.

"Mightyena is no longer able to fight. Charizard wins the round, the winner is Ash!"

Max returned his Pokémon and complimented him because of the good effort he put in it. Max was devastated as soon as Brock had ended the fight. He never stood a chance against Ash, probably not even against his weaker Pokémons. Sadly it was to be expected, but still he hoped he has trained enough to stand a chance against his inspiration.

"Max, you did great!" Ash said as he walked up to him. He saw that Max stared at the ground, obviously not happy after his defeat. "Look, Charizard and I have been a team for years. He has trained in the Charicific valley. He is probably the strongest Pokémon at my side." Ash extended his hand towards the teen to thank him for the challenge.

Max looked up from the ground, took a final look at the Pokéball in his right hand, before he put it in his pocket. Now he faced Ash who was waiting for him to shake his hand. "Now I know, I have to train even harder."

"That's the spirit, Max. You keep it up and you will win the Pokémon league in a couple of years." those were the encouraging words from Ash. The two boys made their way back to mix themselves once again with the guests who picked up their conversations where they left them

Ash wasn't the only one who was late for the party. That someone was knocking on the door this very moment. Ash was able to hear the knocking despite all the party noise around him, this to his own surprise. The people around him didn't feel like they needed to open up, but there was one who told him that there was someone outside.

So he made his way over to the front door and opened it, on the other side was standing his good friend and colleague, William. His Arcanine was still by his side, by the looks of it he had brought him here on his back. "Hey man, didn't think I would forget your birthday party now, did yah?"

They shook hands as a greeting. "Look I left my present back at the base, but I will give it to you as soon we are both there. Congratulations, anyways."

"No problem, now please come in." William returned Arcanine inside his pokéball before stepping inside. Ash closed the door behind Will and asked if he needed to take his jacket. He thanked him for the gesture but refused. He wasn't dressed in his ranger attire, but in a rather simple outfit. He was wearing a pair of jeans, a white shirt with a v-shaped neck covering his torso and an opened up leather jacket covering it. As opposed to Ash's standard of sneakers, he was wearing a set of dark brown boots.

The group of Ash's friends were standing together in a group, probably laughing at a story from the early days. He now had a chance to introduce Will to them in one go. "Let me introduce you to some of my friends." he gestured towards the group and headed their way. Will could only follow the raven haired boy and squeezed himself between some unknown people.

"Hi guys if I may. I would like to introduce you to my friend and fellow ranger, Will." The introduction started from his left hand side. "Hi, my name is May. I'm a coordinator and have traveled with Ash in the Hoenn and Kanto region. This is my brother, Max, future Pokémon master." She joked, not by the liking of her younger brother.

"I'm Misty, gym leader of the Cerulean city gym. My specialization is water-type Pokémon and I was Ash's companion during his first trip, together with Brock." she made a motion with her hands to point at the darker skinned male.

"Brock, is the name. Ex-Pewter city gym leader, and I'm now focusing on becoming a Pokémon breeder. "

And finally it was Dawn's turn. "Hi, I'm Dawn. Also a Pokémon coordinator trying to follow my mother's footsteps."

With that the main cast of friends introduced "It's nice to finally meet all of you. I have heard many stories about, you guys. Ash has told some great stories about you."

"You also have Tracey and Gary standing back there with Pr. Oak and my mom." Ash continued after the first introductions.

"Alright, I will introduce myself to them then. Be back in a bit."

William turned his back to the group and walked off. As soon as he was out of hearing range the girls already started to talk about the just introduced guy with sentences like. "He is cute." and "He is so handsome."

Ash shook his head and went to get his first beer, the one he didn't have chance to open yet. Now he just needed to enjoy the rest of his party.

**Thanks for sticking with me. The mission, mentioned in the summary, will get clear in the next chapter. And after that the story really starts. See you guys later….**


End file.
